The player falls to the turf, grabbing his knee or his shoulder or his hamstring. All heads turn as the man comes out of the dugout, a pack around his hips. Armed with nothing more than some tape and years of knowledge, the Athletic Trainer is there to help that athlete go from the trauma of that moment to another moment in that same spot, days or weeks apart. The treatment and hard work is seldom seen but when the player steps back on the field, ready to help his team again, it is a win for the medical staff.

Since 2003, the Dick Martin Award has been given to the medical staff – physicians, Athletic Trainers, physical therapists, and other associated health professionals – that contributed most to their team. Using a series of measures such as days lost, injury cost, and multi-year averages, we have sought to find an objective “best” in a very subjective and oft-misunderstood profession. This season, we are adding the name of Gene Monahan to the award to recognize his long and distinguished career with the New York Yankees. Monahan retired after a 39-year run with the Yankees and while we cannot give him the monument he so richly deserves, we believe putting his name alongside longtime Twins Athletic Trainer Dick Martin is an appropriate honor for the medical professionals that follow his example.

This season, we are proud to present the award to the medical staff of the Cincinnati Reds. Led by Head Athletic Trainer Paul Lessard and Dr. Tim Kremchek, this staff has not only reduced injuries over a period of years, returned athletes ahead of schedule, and exceeded expectations for injuries, they have done so in a year where the pressure was increased by contention.

The Reds medical staff excelled at maintaining the health of a team evenly balanced with veteran and young players. Even when injuries did occur they showed an impressive ability to properly manage the player, providing ample time for recovery while ensuring the team remained competitive.

It wasn’t always easy, especially in the beginning when Ryan Madson, acquired in the offseason to be the new closer, suffered a torn ligament in his elbow that ultimately needed Tommy John surgery. Aroldis Chapman took over in the ninth and recorded 38 saves for the year despite missing time with “dead arm”. It was the careful handling of Chapman’s shoulder injury by Lessard and his staff that insured the young fireballer would be able to finish the season and be available for the postseason. Pitchers Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto also benefited from Lessard’s expertise putting together career years after injury-riddled 2011 campaigns.

Position players also reaped the rewards of Lessard and company as several often injured players avoided the disabled list and helped the Reds win their second division title in the past three years. After playing in just 65 games in 2011 veteran Scott Rolen was able to play 92 games as the Reds medical staff carefully and methodically handled his shoulder and back issues to maximize his playing time. The other half of the left side of the infield was also an injury concern entering the season as Zack Cozart was still recovering from offseason elbow and ankle surgery. However, Cozart pieced together an impressive rookie season playing in 138 games and providing stability at a position once considered a weakness in Cincinnati.

Another test for Lessard would come in late July when reigning MVP Joey Votto would suffer a torn medial meniscus in his left knee. Almost one month after Dr. Kremcheck performed surgery to repair the meniscus, Votto would need a second procedure to remove a piece of floating cartilage in the same knee. Despite pressure to rush the three-time All-Star back, Lessard exhibited patient and provided Votto the appropriate amount of time to get healthy. After missing 48 games, Votto returned to the lineup and hit .343 for the month of September.

The work of Lessard, Kremcheck and the rest of the staff contributed to the Reds 97-win season and their ascension to the playoffs.

My feelings on the Reds medical staff are well known to readers of this blog… I’ll just say that the mishandling of the Joey Votto injury and the initial misdiagnosis of the Johnny Cueto playoff injury (in my non-medical opinion) say more than Scott Rolen going from 65 to 92 games or that Cozart could play an entire year after Tommy John in his non-throwing elbow (I believe).

If you’re going to give them credit for Cueto and Bailey’s seasons, don’t they deserve some of the blame for their past injuries? Careful handling of Chapman’s shoulder?

I can’t wrap this up without asking if there is a “Dan Rowan Award” also, for those old enough to understand the question.

Interesting article. . . However, the link omitted the (perhaps) most convincing reasons why the Reds staff won the award:

“In between blood lettings and leech treatments, the staff was still able to diagnose and exorcise star first baseman Joey Votto’s ‘knee demon’ and even identified Johnnie Cueto’s bout of ‘dropsy’ at the beginning of game one of the NLDS. Doctors originally thought Cueto was afflicted with either ‘consumption’ or ‘acute leprosy’ of the gut.”

It is a bizarro world when a positive award such as this going to the Reds could piss us off?

TC: You’ve got that right, this is a very positive award based on an objective measure of a real accomplishment: overall the Reds stayed healthier than any other team in MLB.

The key sentence is: “Using a series of measures such as days lost, injury cost, and multi-year averages, we have sought to find an objective “best” in a very subjective and oft-misunderstood profession.”

Of course a lot of factors go into “days lost”. As a mostly young team with older players who were either reserves or given plenty of rest, it’s not surprising that the Reds did well by this measure. The starting rotation didn’t miss a day until the post season, that alone gives the Reds a big edge.

How much let’s say of the healthy starting rotation had to do with the medical staff, and how much had to do with Bryan Price teaching Homer, for example, to adjust his mechanics so as to put less stress on his shoulder ?

The bottom line is that between the trainers, coaches, Dusty resting players, and so on, the Reds did a better job of avoiding injuries than any other team in MLB. That’s a positive and the cynicism by the amateur doctors here is misplaced.

Much of the announcement is BS and doesn’t even mention, for example, Nick Masset, who missed the entire season for what was diagnosed as “minor shoulder inflammation”. But the award is not based on the BS announcement.

TC: You’ve got that right, this is a very positive award based on an objective measure of a real accomplishment: overall the Reds stayed healthier than any other team in MLB.

The key sentence is: “Using a series of measures such as days lost, injury cost, and multi-year averages, we have sought to find an objective “best” in a very subjective and oft-misunderstood profession.”

Of course a lot of factors go into “days lost”. As a mostly young team with older players who were either reserves or given plenty of rest, it’s not surprising that the Reds did well by this measure. The starting rotation didn’t miss a day until the post season, that alone gives the Reds a big edge.

How much let’s say of the healthy starting rotation had to do with the medical staff, and how much had to do with Bryan Price teaching Homer, for example, to adjust his mechanics so as to put less stress on his shoulder ?

The bottom line is that between the trainers, coaches, Dusty resting players, and so on, the Reds did a better job of avoiding injuries than any other team in MLB. That’s a positive and the cynicism by the amateur doctors here is misplaced.

Much of the announcement is BS and doesn’t even mention, for example, Nick Masset, who missed the entire season for what was diagnosed as “minor shoulder inflammation”. But the award is not based on the BS announcement.

Yeahhhh, it seemed like every month there was a new article on how Masset was nearly ready for a return. Every single month until the end of the season….. plus Madson just had “minor elbow soreness” at first and sure enough never pitched in a single game.. Bray is almost in the same cart as Masset, where they kept saying he was almost ready to return, and when he finally did, it was clear to everyone he wasn’t healthy…

Not to mention the Medical Staff cleared Dusty’s sanity after he gave Stubbs/Valdez/Cairo/Harris/Costanzo 899 ABs. That alone should be enough to warrant a trip to a padded room. (Yes, that’s 899 out of the team’s 5477 ABs… that means Stubbs/Valdez/Cairo/Harris/Costanzo accounted for 16.4% of the team’s ABs. Ouch.)

Well, the medical staff winning an award for being the best medical staff in MLB should end the criticism and end calls for the personnel to be replaced, right? I’m surprised by how many people spin this story negatively.

Next up maybe Drew Stubbs can win a Gold Glove (as he’s one of three finalists, but the announcement is made tonight) and Dusty Baker Manager of the Year to justify fan criticism that they are the worst person in MLB for their respective roles.